Michael May
by Colour Me Purple
Summary: Chased from her home by something she doesn't believe exists, Nina May turns to the cousins she never knew she had in order to protect the only thing she has left. Interwoven between the lies and the dark is an answer to the question - why Michael May?
1. Welcome to my world

Overview: It all comes down to one mother's undying love for her child, and how far she'll go to protect him from anything and everything...

Disclaimer: Everything owned by Eric Kripke and the CW

* * *

Chapter 1 – Welcome to my world

Nina May watched the shadows crawl along the motel room walls, smiling faintly as the car lights that zoomed by created pretty patterns on the plaster.

During the day everything mattered; every heartbeat hurt, every step taken was a miracle, and every smile was rare. She had to force herself to move, to eat, to care; she had to glance behind her back and around corners and over obstacles that didn't even exist yet; fear was a constant companion.

But here, now, everything was still, and Nina was at peace.

Michael stirred beside her, and she stroked his tanned cheeks with her thumb, quietly humming his favourite lullaby. She laid her head upon her pillow and watched him sleep, her heart warming as his lips sucked on an imaginary milk bottle.

He had no idea what was out there in the dark, he had no idea that they were running with no idea what they were running from or where they would end up. He had no idea that they were low on every necessity known to man, or that his mother was so close to the edge she was practically falling.

All he knew was that in her arms he was safe, and the only time he ever cried was when she let go.

"I will never let you go." She whispered, before slipping into a dreamless black, her child's tiny fingers absently clutching onto her own.

* * *

_Nina roared with pain, sweat dripping down her face._

"_Come on Nina, you can do it! Just one more push!"_

_Nina squeezed Freddie's hand tightly, and if she was hurting him he didn't show it. The nurses were praising her and pressuring her, "push dammit push!"_

_She felt like knocking their heads together and screaming at __**them **__to freakin push!_

"_She's crowning!"_

_With one final burst of effort Nina pushed with all her might._

_She's always claimed that she could hear Michael wailing, even though she'd lost consciousness before seeing his face._

* * *

She woke up just before Michael, as she did every morning, as if somehow she could feel him dipping out of dreamland and felt the need to beat him to it.

She yawned sleepily but stayed as she was, content to just watch the slow rise and fall of his chest. His eyelids twitched slightly, before blinking open groggily to reveal two glistening hazel eyes.

He'd inherited Freddie's eyes instead of Nina's bright blue ones, and she didn't know sometimes whether to laugh or to cry when she saw them.

"Welcome to my world, Mikey."

She always whispered that to him each time he woke up, just as her mum had done with her. Michael's eyes lit up at the sound of her voice, before closing again, overcome by fatigue. Nina stroked his dark curls and decided to let him sleep a little while longer, she needed a shower anyway, and it had been a long journey up from South Dakota.

She placed extra pillows around the bed, just in case Michael decided to roll off, before sliding beneath the lukewarm assault of water. She closed her eyes and let the droplets fall down upon her bruised skin, washing away all the grime and dirt and baggage she'd picked up over the last few weeks.

Faces flew in front of her eyes as she travelled through her memories. The crinkles around her mother's eyes when she smiled, the twinkle in Freddie's eyes when he'd come home from work and sweep her off her feet...all the way up to the motel receptionist's disapproving frown.

Who rocks up to a motel at just gone four in the morning with a small child on her hip and loose change in her pocket anyway?

Nina turned off the water.

* * *

_The child resting in Freddie's arms was breathtakingly beautiful, the perfect little bundle of soft curls, and the brightest eyes Nina had ever seen._

_She accepted him with open arms, feeling a shiver of pleasure as her baby nuzzled against her breast._

"_So what are you going to call my Grandchild?" Her mother beamed proudly._

_Nina laughed. "Like you don't already know!"_

"_Ok you got me...here's a little something for him I made myself." From her pocket she presented a tiny bracelet sewn from an array of bright coloured thread, with little white and blue beads that each had a single letter painted on with silver._

"_It's wonderful Cassie!" Freddie's eyes lit up as Nina's mother gently tied it around Michael's wrist._

"_My sister Mary taught me how to make these, I believe she called them traveller's beads, or something like that...there you go! And you can adjust it in size so that when he's older it'll still fit him."_

_Nina gazed up at all that was left of her family, and smiled through her tears. "I love you guys...so, so much."_

_Freddie bent down and kissed her on her forehead. "I love you too, sweetheart."_

* * *

Michael leant back against her as he sat lazily sucking on his bottle, gazing up at the small TV screen and occasionally rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

His grandmother's gift was still loosely wrapped around his wrist, and the colours seemed just as bright as the day Nina had first seen them. She kissed the top of his head and closed her eyes, trying to compose herself, trying to find a reason to struggle on.

Michael...Michael was her reason. She had to save him, if it was the last thing she did.

She knew where she had to go now, but with no car it would be a long walk, and being a stranger in this small town meant there was no one she knew or trusted to watch over the only person she had left.

But maybe...

She lifted Michael off her lap – which he wasn't very happy about – and placed him crossed legged on the floor, surrounded by a few measly toys that he'd outgrown months ago. She made a mental note to buy some more the next time she had money.

She pulled the dusty yellow pages from the back of some cupboard, and began to pour through it eagerly, scanning every page twice just in case she missed him.

There he was – obviously not the people her mother had told her to find, but she'd heard he was their only link to outsiders.

She just hoped he believed her, or at least stayed on the line long enough to hear her out.

* * *

"_Hello?"_

"_Nina!" Her mother's voice sounded urgent, desperate even._

"_Mom what is it? What's wrong?"_

"_Baby I love you."_

"_Mom you're scaring me, what's wrong?"_

"_There's something I should have told you a long time ago, and I am so, __**so **__sorry!"_

_Nina held her breathe._

"_We thought we'd destroyed Him! We thought we'd stopped Him but He's coming –_

"_What? Mom what are you talking about? Who's coming?"_

"_There are things out there Nina, evil lurks behind every corner, but I couldn't raise you to fight them – I wouldn't allow myself to burden you, but now -_

"_You're not making sense –!_

"_Take my grandson and Freddie and run, Nina! Before He comes – _

"_Who is HE, mom!?" Nina was screaming now, and Michael was crying somewhere upstairs but Nina couldn't move._

"_The thing that killed your grandmother and your grandfather and your father and your aunt and who John and I thought we'd killed! But He's coming for you, Nina, for your husband, for your, child for you!"_

"_Mom that's impossible! Who would want to –_

"_Not __**who**__, but __**what**__! The only way to protect yourself is to find family - there is family on my side who are still alive – for now. Two boys; I forget their names, Mary's boys. Find the Winchester's! They can hunt this thing!"_

"_Mom listen to me –_

"_No Nina, you listen to __**me**__! Run dammit, run as far and as fast as you can! I love – _

_Nina dropped the phone, but even from the floor she could still hear the blood chilling screams, and sounds of tearing flesh._

* * *

"Hello?" The man on the other side of the line drawled.

Nina bit her lip and crossed her fingers. "Umm hello, is this Bobby Singer?"

"Whatever you're selling, I don't want it."

"Wait! Please, I'm not selling anything." Nina waited anxiously.

"Well then what do you want?" Bobby's tone was sharp, but curious.

"Do you know of a woman named Mary Winchester?"

A sharp intake of breath. "That woman died years ago."

"I know that...so does that mean you know of her sons?"

"I know _of_ them...who is this? And what do you want with the Winchesters?"

Nina took a deep breath. "I'm their cousin...and I need their help."

* * *

Thoughts? Queries? Feel free to review, I don't bite :)


	2. Mary's Boy

Chapter 2 – Mary's boy

* * *

_Nina laid a single white lily amongst the scattered rose petals that decorated her mother's grave. She knelt upon the damp grass, only too aware that her mother's bones lay rotting in the dirt beneath her, the last traces of terror etched upon her face._

_"What do I do now?" She whispered shakily._

_The wind toyed with her hair and chilled the tears upon her face, so that they felt like icicles sliding down her cheeks. __Freddie gripped her hand tight, and she leant against him heavily. His strong arms encased her in love as she sobbed into his chest, her hands pulling him closer._

_"You live, Nina. That's all you've ever got to do, just live. I'll take care of everything else."_

* * *

Nina heard the faint roar of an engine somewhere off in the distance, and felt her stomach twist itself into knots. It was them, she just knew it.

Michael followed her around the room on all fours as she busied herself trying to make everything look as neat as was possible for a cheap, shabby motel room. She'd checked her pale reflection in the opposite mirror about a thousand times, noting with disdain the bags beneath her eyes and the way her dark hair sat limply upon her shoulders.

She tried to think of anything other than what she would do when they arrived, because truthfully she had no idea. What could she say? 'My mum told me to find you just before she died, please help me fight some curse I don't understand or believe in?'

They'd have her in a straight jacket before she'd even completed _that _sentence.

So when the roar of an engine suddenly cut out just outside the motel door, Nina's heart rose to her mouth in an attempt to escape. She realized - a little too late - that maybe she should have just stayed at home, instead of running from an evil that just didn't exist.

But then a small tug at the hem of her jeans brought her out of her panicked stupor. She smiled warmly and bent to pick up the only thing she had left, her baby, her precious jewel, the sun and the stars in her sky, her everything.

"Hey there Mikey." She cooed softly, picking him up gently and bouncing him on her hip.

Her heart was broken in so many ways it wasn't possible to ever fully heal it, and day by day she could feel the weight of a thousand worlds crashing down upon her shoulders. When she was alone, she would cry for the loss of everything that had once made her smile, and the glue that roughly held her together would stretch to breaking point…

But with Michael's tiny little heartbeat, fluttering softly against her chest, there was nothing that could bring her down. So when that knock on the door finally came, Nina May was ready.

* * *

_Nina would dream about a man sometimes, a man with gleaming eyes that flashed black and silver and red. He would always smile at her, grin at her, his pearly whites sparkling. He would always take her by the hand and hold her tight, like Freddie would, whispering sweetly in her ear._

_"I'm coming for you."_

_And just before his teeth sunk into her flesh, Nina would wake up screaming._

* * *

She took a deep breath, before opening the door slightly and peering through the crack.

"Hello?"

Michael laid his head on her chest, his fingers enclosed around the silver chain that hung around her neck. On the other side of the door stood a man well over 6ft tall, his warm eyes glistening as he wore a smile that belonged on the front cover of a magazine. He pushed his fringe out of his face.

"Hello, Nina is it?"

"Who wants to know?"

"I'm Sam, Sam Winchester."

He peered down at her curiously, and she could almost hear his brain whirring, trying to size her up. She swapped Michael onto her other hip, and then opened the door fully.

She smiled warmly, even though inside her heart was racing. "Please, come in."

He followed her inside, his eyes settling upon her single bag of belongings before glancing back up at her. It was at that precise moment that Michael decided it was time to throw up his breakfast, leaving a trail of undigested biscuits and sour milk all down Nina's front. He gazed up at her with a cheeky grin on his face, his bright eyes twinkling innocently.

"Well I guess that's one way to break the ice." Sam joked, the corner of his lips twitching. If he was nervous at meeting a mysterious new relative, then he hid it well.

Nina blushed a deep crimson colour. "I'm so sorry! He's only just got teeth and sometimes I think he forgets he can chew…" She made her way over to the bed and tried to rummage singly handedly through her bag for baby wipes and a clean shirt.

"It's fine, really. Do you want me to…?" He held out his arms for Michael, and Nina's first instinct was to hold onto him tightly, afraid to let him go for even a second – if her experiences had taught her anything, it was to trust _no one_. But there was something about this Sam guy that made her feel at ease. Those large puppy eyes made her melt a little, and she had to remind herself that they were related by blood.

"Umm yeah, thanks." She muttered quietly, unable to look her cousin straight in the eyes.

Michael's eyes widened as Sam hoisted him up and held him against his broad chest.

"Hey there little guy." He cooed gently.

Nina waited for the tears and screams that usually came whenever she let him go, but instead of crying he just stared up in wonder at the giant who held him, and hiccuped, causing Sam to chuckle softly.

"So, who is this charming young man?"

Baby wipes at the ready Nina began to clean Michael's face, and was so absorbed by her task that she didn't realize Sam was gazing down at her, his eyes unreadable, but hard around the edges…just like the eyes that stared back at her when she could face looking into a mirror.

"Michael, my son..." She picked up a spare t-shirt. "Sorry, do you mind if I…?"

"Oh yeah, no problem."

"You can sit down if you want, and you can put him down if he gets irritable."

He nodded before lowering himself down and perching awkwardly on the edge of her bed, placing a sleepy Michael on his lap.

Nina made her way to the bathroom and hurriedly began to change her shirt. She sighed quietly - what a great way to introduce herself!

"So, where's your brother." She called from behind the door.

"Dean? Oh err, he had to finish something at work, said to say he's sorry he couldn't make it though…"

Nina emerged from the bathroom in a pale pink vest top and checkered shirt, watching Michael scream in delight as Sam bounced him on his knee.

"So…you're my cousin huh?"

Nina smiled sheepishly. "I guess so…My Mom used to talk about Aunt Mary and Uncle John all the time, but she never mentioned her sons until…well she just never mentioned you."

Michael yawned and rubbed his eyes, before resting his head on Sam's chest and gazing up at his mother through half open eyes. Sam's tanned arms were a safe stronghold around him, and for a fleeting moment Nina imagined Freddie sitting in his place, holding his son in a fortress of love and protection.

If Sam noticed the broken glint in her eye, he didn't mention it.

"Our Dad never told us that our Mom even _had _a sister." Sam spoke quietly.

"Yeah well, she doesn't anymore…she died last month."

Sam looked up at her, his expression unreadable. "I'm sorry."

Nina shrugged to mask her crippling sorrow and averted her eyes, glancing at the large and tired looking photo album that sat on the desk next to the bed.

"You must want proof though, right? I mean, you don't look stupid so I wouldn't expect you to believe that we were related without proof."

She could feel Sam's gaze burning through her as she picked up her mother's family photo album and held it as though it were a precious stone that could crumble at any moment. She gently flicked through the pages of her grandparents before she found the one she wanted, and smiled down at the fading photograph.

"Here…" She sat cautiously on the bed next to Sam and watched his eyes light up. On the page in front of them stood two beautiful women with beaming smiles and eyes that sparkled, their arms wrapped around each other lovingly; Mary's head resting against that of her younger sister's. Their young faces shone with a hope that their bright futures had awarded them, and their naive expressions haunted Nina every time she looked upon them. How would they have looked if they had known where their lives would lead? If they'd known they would both burn...

She liked to think they would have smiled all the same.

"They look so…" Sam shook his head, unable to find words suitable for the expression upon his mother's face.

Nina looked up at her cousin, her family, and felt a twinge of regret spike through her heart. If only they could have met sooner, and under better circumstances. She watched him smile and small, woeful smile.

"What was her name, your mother? My aunt.."

"Cassandra, but everyone called her Cassie. She made that little bracelet around Mikey's wrist, said Mary taught her how to make it."

Michael's eyes fluttered open at the sound of his name, his face scrunching up like it did whenever he was about to cry.

"I Think it's time to swap." Nina laid the album behind her and cuddled her son as Sam lifted him up gently and placed him in her lap, before he retrieved the photo album and began turning the pages.

Nina rocked her son in her arms whilst studying the stranger before her – because that's what he was, a stranger – and it struck her as kind of _mad_ that she had let him into her temporary home, and had even allowed him to hold her _son. _Imagine if he had turned out to be some sort of creep? But he just seemed so, so…

Nina couldn't find a word to describe the calm that came over her when she looked up at him. His shaggy mane of hair fell over a kind face, although his eyes seemed to glow somewhat darkly, and his shoulders seemed to sag as if a heavy weight sat upon them. She fought the urge to reach out and cuddle him, shaking the motherly impulses from her heart, but deep inside she knew he felt like Home.

She watched him freeze over a group photo, the exact one she'd known he'd stop on, his fingertips hovering over the cheerful faces that beamed up at him. Nina could close her eyes and still see the photo as it lay on the page.

Her mother and Mary both sat on chairs in the middle of the picture, giggling babies wrapped in their arms as though they would never let go. Her mothers' auburn hair lay in bushy waves that cushioned her face, and the diamond necklace her father had given her lay around her neck, caught in a glare from the camera flash. Uncle John stood crouched down next to Mary, one arm around her waist and the other keeping the boy on his shoulders from falling off; his face almost glowing with joy and pride. Nina's father was sat upon the floor next to her mother, head resting against her thigh and his hand entwined with hers upon her lap, smiling merrily, unaware of the chubby fingers reaching out to take the glasses away from his soft hazel eyes.

That picture was taken the day Mary Winchester died.

* * *

_Nina poked her head around the door and felt her heart glow warmly inside her chest. She tread carefully, keeping her footsteps light as she manoeuvred her way through the maze of toys that littered the floor._

_Michael lay fast asleep in his crib, sucking unconsciously on his dummy, his legs occasionally kicking as though he were trying to run through his dreams. She stroked his cheeks softly, bending down to kiss the top of his head._

_She straightened back up and turned around, gazing down lovingly as the love of her life dozed in his favourite armchair. He opened one eye lazily and smiled._

_"Sweetheart?" He whispered croakily._

_Nina smiled, her heart expanding in her chest. "Yes?"_

_"Don't let me go downstairs."_

_Her smile faltered. "What?"_

_Freddie closed his eye and sighed._

_Suddenly Michael's night-light flickered and went out, leaving them in a black so thick she couldn't breathe. She could feel her heartbeat racing crazily, beating harshly against her ribcage._

_A split second later the bulbs re-lit, but Nina couldn't shake the sensation of suffocation._

_"Freddie?" Her voice shook with fear._

_Freddie didn't answer - Freddie **couldn't **answer, because Freddie's throat was slit from ear to ear, and blood was spilling from his mouth and eyes and nose and dripping down his face and ears and –_

_A cold whisper sent a wave of terror pulsing through her entire being, and a cold body pressed itself up against her, a knife glinting silver beneath her chin._

_"I'm Here."_

_She woke up choking, a firm hand clamped over her mouth._

_"It's ok Nina, it's ok it's me Freddie!"_

_Nina pulled his hand away and buried her face in his chest, sobs shaking her body as he held her tightly, rocking her back and forth._

_Freddie's eyes widened slightly as he cocked his head to one side._

_"Baby I don't wanna scare you, but I think someone's downstairs."_

* * *

Nina tucked Michael into yellowing sheets, wishing with all her heart that she could provide more for her son than dank motel rooms and toys so old and chewed up they were hardly recognizable, and definitely not hygienic. She wanted more than this for him, for both of them, but she knew she could never stop running.

"Where's his dad? If you don't mind me asking…"

Nina bent down and laid a soft kiss upon Michael's cheek, trying to gather up the strength and the courage to do what was best – crazy, definitely crazy, but it was worth a try. What more could she possibly lose?

"He died, about two weeks ago now…" She wrapped her arms around herself as though trying to hold herself together, as if trying not to let Sam see that all she wanted to do was crumble, fall apart, blow away. But Sam could already see straight through her, and he was studying her cautiously.

"Bobby said you needed our help…and I'm guessing you don't just need money or a place to stay."

"You're gonna think I'm crazy…"

Sam smiled as if laughing inwardly at a private joke, and his expression seemed to say 'girl, you've got no idea.'

"Try me."

* * *

_Nina felt panic rush through her system like a drug, immobilizing her for a split second before releasing her into a wave of terror._

_"NO! NONONO! Don't you leave me!" She held onto Freddie's shirt with all her might._

_"Nina it's ok! Just calm down, take a deep breath, I'm not going anywhere." He held her tightly in strong arms, whispering softly in her ear and kissing her head gently._

_A loud thump came from downstairs, and Freddie's body became tense._

_"Please don't go downstairs." Nina begged, burying her face in his chest and wrapping her arms tightly around his neck. "Please!"_

_He pulled her back and held her face in his hands, gazing down at her with a torn expression as he wiped away her tears. "Ok…it's probably just the cat anyway –_

_A door banged loudly somewhere in the house and Freddie jumped out of bed, so quickly that Nina didn't have time to hold onto him._

_"Freddie!"_

_He turned to her just as another door slammed downstairs. He knelt down beside her on the bed and took both of her hands in his. "Nina you need to be strong for me ok? I'm going downstairs. because I need to protect the two people who mean everything to me, who are my world."_

_"Please, you don't –_

_"Yes I do. Call the police Nina, then go and stay with Michael in the nursery ok?" He gazed down at her agonizingly before leaning down and pressing his lips softly against hers. "I love you."_

_He ripped himself out of her grasp and was lost to the night, leaving her alone in a bed that was too large; in a room that seemed to close in on her as she wiped her tears away with the sodden bed sheets._

_Fear pumped through her veins as she picked up the phone next to the bed, and her heart sunk as she realized it was disconnected. She threw it to the ground in a panic, her pulse racing dangerously as she raced out of the door and across the hallway to where Michael slept, blissfully unaware of the danger he was in._

_She stopped suddenly at the open door to his nursery, the silence of the house around her halting her in her tracks._

_"Freddie?"_

_The walls seemed to absorb the word before she'd spoken it, making her wonder if she'd said anything at all._

_"Freddie!?"_

_The stairs stretched out before her in ominous anticipation, beckoning her, whilst at the same time screaming at her to go back and hide beneath the bed._

_A slow rumble suddenly rolled through the house, vibrating the carpet beneath Nina's bare feet. A glass smashed somewhere - the sound seeming to come from so very far away, as the vibrations began to feel stronger and quicker beneath her. Fear struck at her heart and her throat as the walls started to shake beneath her fingertips, and a shrill cry escaped her lips before she could pull herself together._

_"EARTHQUAKE!"_

_She stumbled blindly through the dark hallway, groping the violently shaking walls and choking on tears she hadn't realized had been falling._

_"FREDDIE!"_

_It was as though she was caught in a bubble somewhere in the midst of time itself. Her whole body shook in slow motion, along with the house and the rattling windowpanes. Terror was quietly wrapping its icy tongue around her legs and pulling her down, and the only word that she could form on her lips was that of her husband's name. Even the thought of her son being shaken in his crib, could not break through the film of crippling fear that had formed inside her head and her mouth and her heart._

_That is, until two strong hands gripped her shoulders and shook her harder than the house itself._

* * *

Sam frowned down at his notepad, in which he'd been scribbling down the details of her twisted, screwed up story. Nina paused, and pulled her shawl a little tighter around her shoulders. They'd moved from the dingy motel and into Sam's car in the parking lot, so as not to wake Michael up, and he'd made Nina tell him everything right from the very beginning.

"So your mother rang you the night she died, and just before the line cut out you heard…?"

"A scream. She told me the thing that had killed basically everybody in our family was coming for mine; that I should look for you boys and run...and then I heard a scream and the sound of something being torn. But when the police arrived they said that cause of death was from asphyxiation due to smoke from –

"- from the fire... Hmm." He nodded to himself and scribbled something illegible down in his notebook.

"They wouldn't listen to me – nobody would! The police said they'd checked the phone records and that no call had been made to me that night. I began to think maybe, that maybe I'd…"

"Maybe you'd made it all up? That you were going crazy?" The corner of Sam's mouth lifted into a crooked, sour smile, and he gazed down at her knowingly.

Nina returned his gaze helplessly. "Aren't I?"

A bitter laugh escaped her mouth before she had time to register it. "Aren't I just _insane_? How can this be my life? How can I go from having everything I've ever dreamt of having, to sitting in a car with a cousin I never knew I had, reciting a story that belongs in nightmares and horror movies?! I just…" She fingered her necklace with nervous fingertips, and wiped away the tears on her face with her other hand.

"If it weren't for Michael I never would have let it get this far. I wouldn't have run away from my town and my friends to hunt down _strangers_, I wouldn't be living in a _disgusting_ hotel in the middle of _nowhere_, I –

"Nina."

She closed her eyes, and fought the lump that had risen in her throat. Sam's soft, reassuring voice carried a thread of concern that, for once, was not focused on the terms of her sanity, and she hated herself for lashing out at him. She kept her eyes closed and heard him sigh quietly.

"I'm sorry." She whispered, desperately trying to fight to the waves of guilt, loneliness and sorrow that had threatened to wash her away ever since Freddie's death.

"That's okay, I know this can't be easy for you, but you're not alone anymore. This is what me and my brother _do_…we hunt things that aren't supposed to exist outside of a TV set. We were raised this way, it's normal for us, so in answer to your question." He paused, and Nina cautiously opened her eyes to find that he was smiling warmly down at her. "To answer your question, _no_, you are not insane, and we will help you protect yourself and your son from whatever killed your mother and your husband."

"And basically everyone in the Winchester bloodline."

Sam chuckled but it sounded hollow. "Apparently so."

Nina nodded, and managed a weak smile through watery eyes back up at him.

"Do you mean We, as in you, your brother and Uncle John? Because my mom said she'd helped him kill – or apparently _not _kill – whatever it was that killed your mother and my father and our grandparents so…" She faltered and let her sentence trail away. At the mention of his father, Sam's eyes had lost their smile and had dimmed visibly. Nina's heart dropped in her chest.

"I'm so sorry…When? How?"

Sam stared down at his hands. "A week ago...and here's this for a kicker - he died by the hands of the yellow-eyed demon, the thing we think killed our mom, and your mom apparently, and basically everyone..."

Before thinking, Nina placed her hand in his and gripped it tightly. They sat like this, in a mournful silence, each plagued by the losses of their family, for what seemed like eternity. It was worse than Nina had anticipated, and she didn't even want to think about processing the word 'demon'. Everything in that instant just seemed hopeless.

Sam breathed in deeply and shook his head. Nina withdrew her hand from his, breaking the spell that had bound them in a moment of misery. He re-opened his notebook once more and turned to her, his eyes warm but firm once again.

"So, where were we?"


	3. What is Grief?

Rights to everything belong to the CW and Eric Kripke.

* * *

Grief.

The only way to describe it, is to just say nothing at all. If you try to explain to someone exactly what grief _feels _like, or what it really is, then all you're doing is turning a saturated emotion into a bunch of empty words. People will never understand what you mean if they have never experienced the crushing weight of sorrow upon their own hearts. They may nod and look solemn, they may even _care_ – but they will never understand.

_Sam does._

Nina stared at nothing in particular out of the open car window, watching as a rush of sparkling rainbow colours streaked past her in a never-ending blur. The moderate breeze teased the ruffles of her auburn curls, and the sun upon her face was gentle and pleasant.

To anyone who looked in on them as they idled by, they appeared to be a young couple on a family outing. A handsome man and his girlfriend or even wife, on their way to someplace Better, with their bouncing baby boy cuddled up on the backseat. There are those that may have gone as far as to say that the two people in the front seats were Happy.

"You know, I still can't believe it."

Sam's voice held a smile as he peered down at her briefly. The wind had caressed his fringe in such a way that it sort of stood upright, providing Nina with a comical view of his forehead. What could almost have been a laugh escaped from her mouth, and she reached out to pat his hair back down again. He tensed beneath her touch, but only for a second and then he relaxed, though Nina had to remind herself to stop touching him without warning. It just felt so _natural_.

"Can't believe what?"

"Well _you_, and Michael. It's so weird to know that all this time when we thought we were alone..." He trailed off and turned his gaze back to the road ahead.

"So you can believe in - in _demons _and _ghosts_ and _evil things_ but you can't believe you have cousins?" Nina teased, laughing again. It felt weird in her throat – not a bad weird mind you, but it had been so long since she'd had a reason to laugh at anything at all.

Sam smirked and shrugged behind the wheel. Michael gurgled in the back seat and Nina twisted around in hers to smile down at him. Her beautiful baby boy.

"Hello Mikey." She cooed softly, caressing his rosy cheek tenderly with one finger – a finger which he immediately grabbed with his chubby fists and stuffed straight into his gummy mouth.

"Don't worry, we won't let anything happen to him."

Nina turned back around in her seat and frowned, wiping her soggy finger onto her jeans. "Don't put that on yourself Sam, he's not your responsibility he's mine. If anything happens to him – god forbid – it's on me. I've come to you for help but it's okay if you can't… we'll be okay."

Sam drummed his fingertips on the steering wheel, his eyes narrowed in thought. "You sound a lot like Dean right about now."

If Nina had been an animal her ears would have twitched; this was the first time Sam had mentioned Dean since he'd come up in their initial conversation back at the motel.

"What'd you mean?"

He sighed and glanced down at her. "I'm okay, we're okay, everything's fine Sammy. That's all he ever says these days, whenever I bring up Dad…He acts like nothing happened."

Nina twiddled her thumbs and decided to tread carefully, as there was an edge to Sam's voice that mixed exasperation with a hint of anger. She could tell frustration was building up inside of him, and knew now where the hard edges of his eyes had come from.

"Well, people deal with things in different ways - "

"But it's like he's _not_ dealing with anything. I want him to get _angry _or to cry or to scream, I want him to do _something _other than work on his goddamn car all day long!"

His knuckles had turned white and his indignant voice had risen to just below a yell. Silence descended upon the car, even Michael stopped gurgling in his car seat.

Sam ran a hand through his hair and sighed. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be...I guess it's kind of normal to want the people around you to reflect how you feel inside. You're hurting because you lost someone you love, and you start to wonder why no one else is hurting too..."

She wanted to tell him that when her mom died, she'd refused to get out of bed for two weeks straight. She'd turned off the lights, pulled down the blinds, and had curled up beneath her duvet in the dark. She didn't want to see people on the street acting as though life hadn't just come to a violent Halt. She wanted them to cry when she cried, and to hurt they way her heart did. In the dark she wouldn't have to listen to the sound of laughter, or to watch as people continued with their lives as though Cassandra May hadn't just disappeared from the world, like the light of a candle snuffed out by the wind.

Freddie had been her foundation, her light beneath the dark of the covers, and he had held her in his arms until she'd cried herself dry.

And when Freddie died…

"At least he hasn't run." She spoke quietly and stared out at the fields beyond the open window, but she could feel Sam's gaze upon her. She turned back to him, her eyes glistening with the darkest sorrow he had ever seen.

"That's what I did, when Freddie died. I ran away."

"Would you have run if it weren't for the whole supernatural thing?"

"Honestly? I think I would have run further."

They sat in the silence for the rest of the journey.

And if someone _really_ wants to know what grief is, then tell them that Grief is a place you run to.

Grief is a place where you hide.

* * *

_"I need to go!"_

_"Yeah whatever kid, my shift ends in three, two, one oh dear- I guess you'll have to wiz in the bedpan, or wait 2 hours for the night nurses to come and wheel you to the loo."_

_Nina scowled up at the greasy-faced nurse who towered above her hospital bed, and who was chewing exaggeratedly on the same gum she'd had in her mouth for the past four hours. The nurse bent down and stood up again slowly, due to the large bulge of fat hanging around her abdomen, and chucked the bed pan unceremoniously at the foot of the bed, before smiling grimly and walking away._

_Nina would have to hold it. She laid back against the itchy sheets, which smelt faintly of blood, and closed her eyes._

_"What a bitch."_

_Nina's eyes flew back open at the sound of a man's voice, and turned towards its source. She blushed as she realised it wasn't a grown man, but a teenage boy around the same age as her. __He was grinning crookedly at her from his bed on the opposite side of the room, a bandage wrapped around his head like a crown, and his arm stuck in a yellowing white cast._

_"I know right?"_

_Nina blushed again, and the boys' __hazel eyes twinkled at her cheekily. "Tell you what, if you really need to pee that bad, I can wheel you to the loo."_

_Nina shook her head in embarrassment. "No! No really it's fine – _

_"Don't be silly it's only down the hall."_

_Before she could stop him he'd swung his legs over the side of his bed, and she laughed as he made a song and dance of pulling down his hospital robe. He was quite tall, just under 6 foot maybe, and beautiful._

_Yes, he was definitely beautiful._

_Nina wriggled upright from beneath the sheets and threw them to one side, revealing the cast covering her right leg._

_"Jeez, what happened to you?" He'd crossed the room in a matter of seconds and was peering down at her with a cocked eyebrow, the way a small child might examine a shiny new toy that he doesn't know how to use._

_Nina smirked. "Hey I could say the same to you! You look like you got into a fight with a pitbull and lost, miserably – are you sure you're even allowed to be out of bed?"_

_The boy faked offense and covered his heart with his hand. "I'll have you know it was a fight with **two **dogs not one, Hounds in fact."_

_Nina rolled her eyes in mock scorn. "Sure."_

_He grinned again and held out his hand. "Pretty girl with a quick tongue, might I ask your name?"_

_She placed her hand in his, and felt a tingle in her fingertips. "Nina Mary Winchester."_

_The boys' eyes widened briefly._

_"Well, Miss Winchester - my name is Freddie – Freddie May, and it would be an honour to escort you to the lavatory."_

_She sometimes thinks she fell in love with him right there and then._

* * *

Nina May nuzzled her sleeping child against her chest, feeling his warm breath at the base of her neck. Her stomach churned wildly as she stared up at Bobby Singer's modest home, and the desert sun seemed to beat down upon her like a hammer. She was nervous, like _really _nervous – although she couldn't pinpoint exactly why. If these men were like Sam then she had nothing to worry about…

"You alright?"

Sam stood beside her, holding her two measly bags of belongings in one hand, and his own duffel bag in the other.

"Bobby…he sounded kind of, well _mean_ on the phone."

Sam laughed loudly, and she managed a small embarrassed smile. Michael stirred against her, lifting his head slightly before falling back down into his slumber. That boy could sleep through an earthquake.

"He can be a bit gruff and straight forward, but really he's just a big cuddly bear." He smiled at his own private joke and began to make his way up the steps to the front door; she followed him tentatively, passing through the door as he held it open for her. The place smelt faintly of whiskey and Man, but was pleasant enough on the inside.

"Bobby?" Sam called out from behind her, and nudged her forwards gently, directing her into what she assumed was the living room. He dropped their bags on the floor and called out again.

"Sam is that you? Well it's about darn time." Came a deep southern drawl in response, shortly followed by the appearance of a scruffy man in his early 50's, wearing a red baseball cap and sporting a beard that Nina instantly wanted to reach out and stroke. He didn't look like the sort of man who would have let her stroke his beard however, and he eyed her up suspiciously as she stood in the centre of the room. She held onto Michael a little tighter.

She heard Sam respond and then excuse himself, but didn't pay much attention. She realised she had let her guard come down around the young and friendly Sam Winchester, becoming too comfortable, even though she had only known him a couple of days. She had to remind herself, as she restored the walls around her heart, that she could trust no one. Hadn't those been her mom's dying words to her? To trust no one?

Except the Winchesters…

Bobby looked taken aback, and she realised she'd been glaring at him. He held up is hands, shaking his head in amusement. "Whoa there sweetheart - no need to look all defensive and menacing! I'm Bobby Singer, and you must be…"

"Nina May."

"That's right, the girl who called up outta the blue soundin all scared and mysterious." He looked at her thoughtfully before extending his hand to her. She shook it, feeling her stomach un-knot slightly. She let out the air she hadn't realised she'd been holding in, and felt a wave of relief crash over her.

"Thank you, for not hanging up when I called, and for sending Sam - you must have thought I was crazy!" She gushed before she could stop herself.

He bowed the tip of his cap awkwardly, his eyes twinkling. "Ain't no such thing."

The sound of voices approaching the doorway caught both of their attention, and they turned just as Sam re-entered the room accompanied by another man. He was shorter than Sam, and had darker, shorter hair, but the same bright eyes gazed upon her, although Sam's didn't cut through her quite as sharply as these did. He appeared hot and sticky, and his grey t-shirt clung to his skin. He held a spanner in his hand, and a reproachful look upon his face.

Nina suddenly felt very out of place in this house of men.

"Dean, this is Nina. She's our –

"Have you tested her?" Dean's voice was gruff and surly as he frowned at Nina, evidently trying to size her up.

Nina took an involuntary step back, as though he had made a move to hit her instead of just speaking out loud. Sam huffed by his brother's side and sent an apologetic look Nina's way.

"No, Dean, but if you'd just listen –"

"Sammy have you learnt nothing? Trust no one. She could be a demon _pretending _to be our cousin, or even a shapeshifter – and how convenient is it that a distant family member we've never heard about before turns up out of the blue a week after Dad dies!"

"Dean!" Growled Bobby darkly. "We have a lady in the house; treat her with some courtesy."

"No, no it's alright." Nina laughed nervously and all heads turned her way. She gulped. "I mean, I didn't even know demons existed until yesterday and I don't know how you'd test for one but you can test me, if that will make you feel better? I don't expect you to just take my word for it…I've learnt a thing or two about trust over the last couple of weeks."

There was a pause, and then Dean nodded and pointed towards her with his spanner, just as Sam rolled his eyes. "See?"

"You don't get to touch my son though." Nina added, somewhat darkly, and in her best motherly 'no-nonsense' tone. She slowly placed Michael down upon the worn out sofa and used her summer jacket as his blanket. She then made a show of standing directly in front of him with her arms folded sternly, daring Dean to contradict her.

"Seems fair enough." Sam's tone was forcefully light as his eyes flickered between Nina and his brother. "And then Nina can tell you guys everything she's told me about what's happened to the other side of our family."

_Well_, Nina thought.

_Almost everything._

* * *

_"I now pronounce you man and wife! You may kiss your bride."_

_Freddie beamed down at her, his whole face seeming to glow. He grinned and turned to the Reverend._

_"May I?"_

_Reverend Matthews smiled and bowed his head. "You May."_

_Nina laughed, her heart blossoming like a rosebud in her chest. "How dare you make such a pun at my wedding!" She scoffed playfully, and the congregation cheered and chuckled in response._

_Freddie winked, his hazel eyes shining like stars as he pulled her close and pressed his lips against hers._

_"I love you." He murmured against her lips. He pulled away but held on to her hands, caressing the ring around her finger._

_"I love you!" She smiled brilliantly back at him, her hopes and dreams soaring skyhigh in anticipation of her new life with the man she loved. He winked at her again and turned to face the crowd of close family and friends. He raised her arm up in the air, like she'd just won a boxing matched, and yelled at the crowd – _

_"I LOVE HER!"_

_Everybody rose, stamping their feet and smashing their hands together in an almighty applause._

_Nina's new husband impulsively picked her up in his arms as though she were light as a feather. Her dress flowed over him like milk and honey, the sun causing it to sparkle as though it were on fire._

_She held onto him as though she could never bear to let go, and knew that she'd never felt more alive._

* * *

A thoughtful quiet had settled over Bobby's living room. Bobby sat behind his desk, a dark frown stricken upon his face as he stared out of the window across his beloved scrapyard. Sam was leant against the wall, arms crossed over his chest as he studied the wooden floorboards beneath his feet.

Nina sat by her sleeping son, calmly stroking his hair with the back of her hand, and biting onto her tongue to stop the tears from falling. He looked so peaceful, so calm amidst all this talk of death and devastation. Her poor broken heart wanted to rip itself out and cover him in kisses, to protect him from all of the dark matter that was floating around his future.

She'd told them everything. Her mother's last words, the fires that had claimed first her father then her mother – even the manner in which Freddie had died. But she'd kept something back about her late husband, holding onto a secret so bizarre that she often wondered if she'd dreamt it all up…

Someone cleared their throat; Nina looked up and realised Dean was staring down at her, his expression unreadable.

"So what you've told us is that not only did the yellow eyed demon kill our mom, but he also murdered our Grandparents, our Uncle and Aunt, and our Dad?"

It didn't escape her notice that he had missed out her husband's name. She broke away from Dean's piercing gaze and looked down at her hands instead. She'd chewed her nails right down to the skin, a habit she'd never had before, well before…

_The thing that killed Freddie didn't have yellow eyes._

"Yeah, yes I guess that's what I'm saying." Nina sniffed.

She didn't know what to make of Dean. She'd passed his tests, had drunk his Holy water and given him her arm to bleed, and yet she could feel a sort of vibe coming from him that was stained with distrust.

"Well great. This doesn't really help us in any way –

"It's something Dean, at least it's _something._" Sam snapped, exasperation in his voice. "It's a lead, we know where he's been, we can visit the house and try and find a clue that could help us!"

"Oh and what do you expect to do when – _if _– you find it? Ask it to stop killing people? The colt is gone and dad is _dead_. We got nothing. We can't even make heads or tails of Dad's research."

Dean took a swig of his beer with shaking hands.

"We got nothing." He repeated quietly to himself, before leaving the room and heading outside, spanner clenched in his tightened fist.

Nina breathed in deeply, feeling her lungs shake beneath her bones. With trembling fingertips she tucked a curl behind her ear and rose slowly to her feet. She frowned and stumbled over what to say – these men, her _family_, had been her only hope.

"Sorry to have wasted your time, we'll be on our way if that's alright – I need to put as much space between me and home as I can." Was what she meant to say, in a bold and certain voice.

Instead what came out was a very small and frightened "How am I supposed to do this on my own?"

She glanced up at Sam through glistening eyes, heart pounding against her ribcage as panic rose to wild heights in her chest. His expression was pained as he approached her, and as the first tear fell from her face, he encased her in his strong arms, bewildering her.

"You're not on your own." He soothed, clasping her head against his chest.

She tensed and then relaxed against him, closing her eyes and letting go of everything for the first time since the night after Freddie's death. Since then she'd had to be so strong, so _unbreakable_, andi t was as if every wall she had built since the first crack had appeared in her heart all those weeks ago, had tumbled to the ground around her. All of the desperation and devastation in her weak little soul began to pour out of her in shuddering gasps, racking her entire body in painful spasms of hysterical sorrow.

"How am I supposed to do this!" She cried against him, her knees and lungs failing her as she became limp, breathing in short gasps that weren't delivering enough oxygen to her system. She heard Bobby barking something in the distance, and Sam's response was muffled as she struggled to breathe. She began to fight him, pounding her fists against his chest in an effort to get away, in an effort to _breathe_.

"I can't – I can't –"

The last thing she heard before she blacked out, was Michael starting to cry.

* * *

_"Oh god mom I'm so sorry! Here let me – "_

_Cassandra chuckled and shooed her daughter out of the way. "Shh shh don't you worry about such a little thing as a broken vase – "_

_"Oh but I know it was a wedding gift from Dad – it's your favourite!" Nina fretted, bending down next to her mother and reaching for a jagged piece of clay._

_"No don't!" Her mother reached out to stop her but it was too late._

_"Ouch!" Nina cried out, staring down blankly at the jagged cut in her finger, before glancing up sheepishly at her mom, who had one eyebrow cocked in exasperation. _

_Cassie held out her hand and Nina placed hers gently upon it. "Now this," Said Cassie, indicating Nina's cut, "is what happens when you try to fix something that should stay broken. You get hurt."_

_"It's only a small cut…" Nina faltered and let her sentence trail away. Cassie had a glint in her eye that Nina couldn't fully read, though it registered somewhere between sorrow and thoughtfulness. She caught her daughter staring up at her, and smiled, though the glint stayed stuck in the centre of her pupil._

_"Some things, my love, are made to be broken. Sometimes good things rise from the pieces – for example take you and Freddie. If you'd hadn't broken your leg during gymnastics training, then you never would have met the love of your life!"_

_Cassie let go of Nina's finger, and rose creakily to her feet. "Though sometimes bad things come from the broken pieces, but only if you try to pick them up."_

_Nina stuck her finger in her mouth, sucking at the iron in her blood. Her mom helped her to her feet and smoothed a loose curl out of her face._

_"The crazy moral of **that** story, Nina, is try not to break your mother's favourite vase! But also that if you accidentily do, you should leave the remnants of what used to be a vase, upon the floor."_

_The next time Nina visited her mother's house, all the broken clay had been swept away._

* * *

Nina toyed with the gold band around her finger and considered – not for the first time – taking it off.

"Too soon." She whispered to the dark.

She'd woken up around two hours after passing out in Sam's arms, covered by thick sheets in a bed smelling strongly of cologne. She'd panicked when she realised Michael wasn't beside her and had nearly become hysterical again, checking every room on the top floor of Bobby's house before racing downstairs, only to be greeted by the sight of Bobby feeding Michael a bowl of mashed potato in the kitchen.

He'd looked up sheepishly, bits of mashed potato in his beard, and tilted his baseball cap at her. "Not gonna start screaming again are ya?" He'd drawled, the corners of his lips twitching as he fought a smile.

She let out a long breath of air before shaking her head. "No sir."

He'd nodded matter-of-factly, holding out the bowl of for her to take. Michael had laughed and clapped his hands when he'd realised she was nearby, gurgling sweetly through a mouthful of food and reaching his chubby little arms up towards her.

Sam and Dean were gone for the rest of the day.

Nina glanced at her watch and sighed at the time. It was 2am and she couldn't sleep; her mind was racing through everything that had happened since Sam had appeared on her doorstep. It had all happened so fast, and even though they'd believed her story, she was beginning to wonder if _she_ did anymore. It was so surreal, so _unreal_ …

'A fire', they'd said, 'you're mother died in a fire – she wasn't torn to pieces by some _Thing. _She choked to death.'

'A tremor,' they'd said, 'Freddie died during an earthquake tremor – they weren't uncommon.'

'It's just your way of dealing with these two losses, so unfortunately close together' – that's what they'd fed her. 'Maybe you should take a break, take a holiday, let us look after Michael so you can look after yourself.'

That's when she'd decided to run.

She sat slowly upright in bed, and kissed the top of Michael's head before throwing off the covers and treading carefully across the carpet to the door. She needed some fresh air, or a glass of water, or _something_.

The stairs creaked and groaned beneath her feet, the noises seeming louder than ever in the stillness of the night. At the bottom of the stairs she caught sight of the front door, and a frightening thought crossed her frantic mind.

_What if I just up and left?_

She hated herself for thinking it, for even considering abandoning her son and her new family.

_And yet…_

"Not thinking of doing a runner are we?"

Nina jumped in fright, her pulse quickening as a dark voice cut across her thoughts. She turned towards the source of her panic, suddenly very aware that she was only wearing a tight t-shirt and a pair of short shorts.

Dean stood in the doorway of the kitchen, an absent gleam in his eyes as he held her in his gaze. In his hands he held two glasses containing an auburn liquid. Nina knew there was no point trying to explain herself, she'd been caught staring longingly at 'the way out', so to speak. She crossed her arms over her chest and held his stare defiantly.

"Would you blame me?"

Dean's expression was unreadable as he extended a glass towards her.

"Yes." His voice was gruff, but strangely void of emotion.

A lump began to form in her throat – but she had no intention of crying. If anything it was anger that remained caught in her oesophagus , as she reached out and accepted the glass from her cousin. She lowered her eyes and spoke quietly.

"Then you know nothing of love."

A mournful smile playied upon Dean's lips as he turned his back on her.

"Perhaps." He whispered softly.

He left her standing in the hallway alone. She stared after him, the glass of bourbon shaking in her grasp. The anger that had recently occupied her veins was replaced with something sadder, and after standing in the dark for what seemed like eternity, she followed him into the kitchen.

He was sitting at the table, his head held in one hand and his empty glass held in the other. She sat down opposite him, carefully lowering herself into the chair and taking a sip of whiskey. It burned its way down into her chest and sat upon her heart. She pushed her glass back towards him.

He raised his head tentatively and stared down at it, as though clueless as to what he was supposed to do with it.

"I'm sorry." His voice was low and hoarse as he glanced up at her, his expression tortured. "I'm sorry about what I said to you earlier, I was just…"

His lost word dangled between them like a thread of silk, bending in the breeze. He licked his lips and lowered his gaze again, circling the rim of his empty glass with his fingertips.

Nina sighed. "I know I'm not really family; I don't expect to be able to walk into your lives and start acting like, like I'm the best discovery you've ever made. I know this is probably a bit much – having to accept a strange woman and her baby into your life, when you've just lost someone so close to you. I get that."

The corners of Dean's eyes creased as he grimaced weakly up at her. His eyes were dark pools of despair, and Nina knew she was seeing a side to him that Sam would never be able to, and that maybe she would never see again.

"What is this? Therapy and Healing with the Winchesters?"

His joke was hollow, and Nina couldn't even force a smile.

"I could do with a bit of healing."

Her heart sat like a stone in her chest, crushing her insides. She looked down at her hands and fingered the ring on her wedding finger.

"God I miss him."

She'd let the words escape without even realising it, as was often the case these days. It seemed sometimes like she'd lost all sense of control.

"Yeah." Dean nodded slightly, before taking a sip from the glass Nina had pushed towards him. He then half laughed and half sighed as he raised his eyes to the ceiling, as though the ghost of his father was up there somewhere. "Yeah I miss him sometimes more than I can bear."

Nina watched him intently. "Do you think it gets better?"

He looked back down at her, confused. "Better?"

"Easier."

This time Dean really did laugh, before downing the rest of the bourbon and licking his lips, his eyes shining in the dim light.

"No, cousin, I don't think it does. I think it gets worse and then you die."

He started at nothing in particular for a while, as though contemplating the ominous meaning of his own words, before slowly - and shakily – rising to his feet.

"Anyway. Enough. Goodnight Nina. I hope... I hope you decide not to run from us."

"Goodnight Dean, me too."

And suddenly she knew she really meant that.

He paused by the doorway and turned his head back towards her. "None of this - none of our conversation - ever _ever _gets relayed to my emotional little brother, got it? He's the bleeding heart of Ghandi and I can't stand it, though I guess it's what makes him so Good - in every sense of the word."

Nina smiled through her tears.

"Goodnight Dean."

"Goodnight Nina."

She watched him leave, listening to his muffled footsteps going up the staircase. She finally slipped her wedding ring off of her finger, and read the inscription inside the curved rim.

She'd asked him once, why he'd chosen to engrave their wedding rings in Latin. He'd replied that Latin was one of the oldest and most beautiful languages that had ever existed, and that he wished their time together could last as long as the Latin language did.

_"So go on then, tell me what it means." She'd gazed up at him impatiently, and he'd kissed her first before whispering its translation in her ear._

_ "Si te angelus meus eris sim -_

_ 'I'll be your angel if you'll be mine'."_


End file.
